272 Natural History in the Eftglish Counties, 



faithful and minute in execution, in the art of wood-cutting, shall have 

 passed away and been forgotten. Tlie WyclifFe museum most probably 

 never would have emerged from that obscurity which attaches to all pro- 

 \'incial private cabinets, but for its singularly good fortune in furnishing pro- 

 totypes for the graver of this " wondrous artist," as Pennant, in one of his 

 letters, emphatically and most felicitously styles him. We have reason to 

 know that it was the circumstance of its being thus intimately associated 

 with the name and labours of this distinguished person, that mainly inter- 

 ested many of the members of the Society in the purchase of the museum. 

 The museum possesses several specimens of rare British birds. Of these we 

 may notice the Red-breasted Goose ( J'nas ruficoUis Linn.) in very fine pre- 

 servation ; the Spur-winged Goose (yi'nas gamb^nsis Linn. Gniel.\ by no 

 means in such high condition, having been rescued from the dunghill by the 

 exertions of H. Mewburn, Esq., St. Germains, Cornwall, who has contri- 

 buted several valuable articles to the collection ; the Cock of the Wood 

 (Tetrao urogallus Linn.), a specimen ascertained to have been shot in this 

 country, and now, consequently, almost unique, if not entirely so. Among 

 the more recent acquisitions it can boast of some water-birds, particularly 

 of the gull, tern, and diver tribes, into any description of which, or of the 

 foreign birds, we shall not enter at present. 



But in what was the WyclifFe, and is now the Newcastle, museum, the 

 class of birds did not wholly supersede every other. A few specimens of the 

 mammalia are preserved in it, but none of first-rate importance, with the 

 exception of the two animals from New South Wales, already pointed out. 

 A somewhat similar account may be given of the amphibia, fishes, insects, 

 vegetables, and minerals. A few antiquities, seals, and miscellaneous curio- 

 sities are also to be found in it ; but these do not fall within our province. 



The recent acquisitions in all the departments of zoology have been 

 very considerable ; and we may observe, in general, that the desiderata in 

 all, as far as concerns the British productions, are rapidly filling up. The 

 British shells are already nearly complete. Great additions have been made 

 to the list of insects, both indigenous and foreign, chiefly the latter. The 

 collection is already rich, and the most active means are using for rendering 

 it perfect in the two great natural products of the district, coal and lead ; 

 so that future geologists will not have to search about the land for the most 

 perfect series of exemplifications of these two important substances, but 

 will find them, where they should be found, in Newcastle itself. 



Indeed, in Newcastle and its neighbourhood, natural history would appear 

 to have always been a favourite pursuit. It is daily becoming more so ; for 

 besides its own Bewick, that part of the country can boast of one of the 

 most accomplished ornithologists of the day, in the person of J. P. Selby, 

 of Twizell House, in the county of Northumberland, whose Illustrations of 

 British Ornithology are already recognised as an original standard work. 

 W. C. Trevelyan, Esq , of Wallington, in the same county, devotes to 

 science that fortune and leisure which too many of his compeers waste in 

 idleness and dissipation. He is favourably known by his contributions to 

 natural history, and by his ardour in its pursuit. He possesses a valuable 

 colleetion, rich in conchology and mineralogy. The Hon. H. T. Liddell, of 

 Eslington, M.P. for the county of Northumberland, has a small but select 

 cabinet of rare birds, all in the best state of preservation. There are a great 

 many other private collections, which, though of minor consequence, are 

 very creditable to the individual owners, and manifest a very commendable 

 zeal in the prosecution of an amusing and most instructive study. 



From the foregoing sketch, short though it be, it will appear that, in the 

 north of England, a taste for the science of nature is cultivated with ar- 

 dour and success, and promises to be as rapidly and generally diffused there 

 fts it is now becoming in many other parts of the kingdom. 



